Tag Archives: Google Nexus One

It looks like T-Mobile and Garmin-Asus have finally settled on a release date for the much anticipated Garminfone. This new mobile device with a GPS slant will ship in June for $199 on a two year contract. The Garminfone will run its own heavily customized Garmin UI over the Google Nexus One Unlocked Android operating system. In addition to this slick UI the Garminfone will come with a 3 megapixel autofocus cam, microSD expansion that supports up to 32GB, WiFi and full HSPA. The phone will also come bundled with a charging dash/windshield mount.

The Garminfone has been one of the more highly anticipated Unlocked smartphone releases in recent memory. Definitely geared towards the GPS junky the Garminfone also has features that will appeal to anyone looking for a new mobile device. The 3 megapixel camera and microSD expansion up to 32GB are extremely nice touches. While you are using your Garminfone to travel the countryside without getting lost you will be able to take many pictures along the way and store them on your phone to share with friends and family.

One of the best features about the Garminfone is the windshield/dashboard mount that comes with the device. Since this phone is manufactured by a GPS company it would make sense that the GPS function of the phone is its best quality. Since many users will be using this device as a GPS unit it only makes sense that they would want a dashboard or windshield mount to accompany their new GPS unit. Instead of selling the mount separately Garmin is including it with the purchase of the mobile phone to allow their customers to easily use this navigation device while driving in their cars.

It appears to be a great time to be an Adobe employee right now. Fresh off their successful launch of Creative Suite 5 Adobe employees appear set to enjoy the extremely popular Android handsets courteously of their employer. As a show of support for Android Adobe may be handing out the handsets to its employees. This distribution is expected to coincide with the highly anticipated launch of Flash for Android at the upcoming Google I/O conference. However, no word on which Android device (various HTC models and the Nexus One Unlocked Phone have been mentioned) will be handed out to Adobe employees or which employees will receive these handsets.

This announcement is a clear example of Adobe and Google “dog-fooding” their own products. These two companies would love for their employees to spend as much time using Android and the Flash Player 10.1. By giving Adobe employees a free Android device Google is attracting more attention to the ever increasing in popularity Android brand.

This news makes you wish you were an Adobe employee doesn’t it? Android devices are some of the hottest mobile phones on the market today. Once Adobe Flash technology comes to these mobile phones sales are expected to increase in large part to Apple’s inability to include Flash technology on the Unlocked IPhone. With this Flash program Android users will be able to access a wide range of streaming content online that other smartphone users will not be able to access. The launch of Flash is expected to be a huge success when it is finally announced at Google’s upcoming I/O conference.

During the CTIA convention it was rumored that Google is going to be taking some serious steps in limiting the amount of platform fragmentation that is commonly associated with the Android. This OS fragmentation has been pretty annoying to most consumers as many people have had to run four distinct versions of the browser based on an arbitrary formula of hardware, carrier, region, software customization, and manufacturers' ability to push updates in a timely fashion.

The first steps in dealing with this troublesome fragmentation issues are expected to be addressed with the next few updates starting with Froyo and continuing through Gingerbread. Unlocked Google phone is expected to combat this problem by removing many of the standard applications and components from the platform’s core and making them downloadable in the market much as the same as what they have already done with Maps.
The best part of Google handling updates this way through the market place is that when Google rolls out a new browser does not mean that you will have to wait for HTC, Samsung or whoever made your phone to roll it into a firmware update and for your carrier to approve it. Almost all of the user facing stuff will happen through the market place and be much easier to get a hold of and loaded onto your phone.
Another aspect of this proposed plan by Google Unlocked Phone to stop these fragmentation issues is that Google is expected to slow their breakneck speed of developing Android’s core and focus more on application development. By not constantly updating the core of the OS Google will make it much easier for one universal version of Android to be deployed and used worldwide. Also, by focusing more on apps and features Google will be ensuring that they provide their consumers with the best possible mobile device.

Everyone with an ounce of app development experience has come up with something for either the iPhone or the Android, and even the FCC is getting in on the fun. The purpose of the app, according to their website, is to “provide Americans with additional information about their mobile data connection and create awareness about the mobile broadband connection quality. While some people might understandably be concerned with an app designed by the Feds installed on their phone, all the app really does is monitor data upload and download speeds. The FCC is set to release a new national broadband plan on 3/16, which will stress the need for improved cell phone data networks.

The data collected through this app will analyze geographical coverage and quality throughout the United States, essentially providing them an auditing tool for cell phone carrier claims and commercial coverage maps. It will also, quite simply, allow the user to see what kind of data speed they are getting from their cell phone carrier in specific locations. You can also find out the speed of your broadband connection by either turning on your cell phone WiFi, or checking out Broadband.gov. This information generally isn’t as valuable for you as the end user, as you can’t move a fixed connection for better coverage as you can with a cell phone.

Tests were recently conducted by the FCC in Seattle and Los Angeles, using a number of phones and carriers, and the results were a little surprising. Verizon’s Droid in Seattle blew away all other results, registering 3G speeds of 1.71 MBPS downloads and .82 MBPS uploads. The iPhone in Los Angeles came in with speeds of 1.35 MBPS downloads and .21 uploads, while Google’s Nexus One on T-Mobile in Seattle came in significantly slower at .29 MBPS downloads and .35 MBPS uploads.